Gutierrez errs in attack on Senate District 19 rival Gallego

1of 2State Rep. Roland Gutierrez, seen on June 12, 2018, said in a campaign email that Senate District 19 rival Peter Gallego “in a moment of political cowardice, canceled a planned meeting with the families of Sandy Hook victims.”Photo: Alma E. Hernandez / For the San Antonio Express News

2of 2Former U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego seen on April 5, 2018, did meet with Sandy Hook parents, but at a time later than originally scheduled, according to Newtown Action Alliance members.Photo: Billy Calzada /San Antonio Express-News

Pete Gallego canceled a “planned meeting with the families of Sandy Hook victims.”

In a fundraising appeal, state Rep. Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio portrayed fellow Democrat Pete Gallegoof Alpine as a “career politician” whose “cozy relationship” with the National Rifle Association prompted him to scrap a meeting with the parents of Sandy Hook children.

As a U.S. House member, we confirmed, Gallego fielded a donation from the NRA, which graded his record highly. But he also met with the parents concerned about gun issues though not at the originally scheduled time, interviews and photos show.

In the campaign email blast, Gutierrez declared that Gallego “in a moment of political cowardice, canceled a planned meeting with the families of Sandy Hook victims,” referring to the 2012 mass shooting at the Newtown, Conn., elementary school that left 20 children and six staff members dead.

The Dec. 14, 2012, massacre occurred 20 days before Gallego, who was in the Texas House for more than 20 years, began what proved to be one term representing Texas’ 23rd Congressional District. A group of victims’ family members met with individual lawmakers in June 2013, about six months into Gallego’s term.

So, did Gallego cancel his meeting with shooting victims’ families?

A web link in Gutierrez’s email led us to a June 15, 2013, Huffington Post news article recapping efforts by victims’ families and friends to seek a change in law requiring background checks for all gun purchases. Federal law requires such checks for purchases from licensed gun dealers but not in private transactions including gun shows.

The Post story indeed says Gallego canceled his meeting with Newtown Action Alliance, a group that describes itself as a “Newtown-based, national grassroots organization’ whose mission is to “achieve the steady and continuous reduction of gun violence through legislative and cultural changes.”

Also, the story says, Gallego’s office did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comment.

But hold on: An update affixed at the end of the story quotes Erin Nikitchyuk, a mother whose son survived the rampage, saying that Gallego rescheduled and then held his meeting with the group, during which he was “conscientious” and “welcoming.”

We asked Nikitchyuk about the described meeting through Facebook messages. She replied: “I absolutely remember meeting with him. In fact, his is the most memorable meeting I had.”

Nikitchyuk subsequently messaged us the group’s itinerary from its trip to Washington, D.C., June 12 and 13, 2013 and showing that family members initially expected to meet Gallego at 9:45 a.m. on June 13.

She also connected us with another Alliance member, Kari Hulgaard, who posted photos on Facebook of Gallego in the Alliance-coordinated meeting.

Hulgaard posted the photos on Facebook June 14, 2013, and made the photos viewable to anyone after we made our inquiries. By text, she told us she wasn’t sure if the meeting took place that day or simply later than the originally scheduled 9:45 a.m. June 13.

“Our group was able to spend a generous amount of time with Gallego,” Hulfaard wrote. “He was most endearing and helpful in gaining perspective about how politics work in Texas when it comes to gun violence and gun laws.”

Nikitchyuk separately reported that “the brother of one teacher who lost her life and at least one survivor sibling,” were among attendees.

Gallego, asked for his account, said by phone that the meeting singled out by Gutierrez wasn’t canceled; it was slightly postponed, he said. Gallego said he ultimately met with "eight to 10" members of the Alliance for "an hour, hour and a half," he estimated.

He did not, according to the Post story, which quotes Nikitchyuk saying, ‘we clearly do not have his vote on supporting background checks at this time.”

According to Nikitchyuk, alliance members asked Gallego this year “where he stands.” Gallego responded, “Do you want to know where I stand or how I’ll vote? Because they’re not necessarily the same thing,” she said. He went on to tell the Alliance they “would need to change the hearts and minds of his constituents,” Nikitchyuk said.

By phone, Gallego said he didn’t remember saying he wouldn’t support a bill mandating universal background checks, but did recall talking to the group about restoring a federal assault weapons ban. Nonetheless, Gallego said by text that he now believes “if you’re buying a weapon, whether at a store or at a gun show or through most private transactions, you should pass a background check.’

Strother also said Gutierrez supports universal background checks and a federal ban on assault weapons.

Our ruling

Gutierrez said Gallego as a U.S. House member “canceled a planned meeting with the families of Sandy Hook victims.”

This claim proved factually incomplete. Interviews and photographs demonstrate that Gallego postponed yet held the meeting at issue. The gathering took place a few hours or possibly a day after it was originally scheduled.

Jasper covers City Hall, local politics and breaking news for the Houston Chronicle through the Hearst Journalism Fellowship program. He previously covered Bexar County and local politics for the San Antonio Express-News. Jasper graduated from Northwestern University in 2017 with degrees in journalism and political science. He has interned for the Tampa Bay Times, Washington Post and Fortune magazine.